03/08/2007

Belgian Police Investigate Madeleine Sighting

Police in Belgium are investigating a reported sighting of Madeleine McCann.

According to reports, Belgian police were called after a woman spotted a young girl, fitting Madeleine’s description in a restaurant with a couple in the town of Tongeren, near Maastricht on the Dutch border.

Detectives have issued a sketch of a man and a woman and it is understood they are taking the sighting “very seriously”.

They have taken a soft drink bottle the girl was drinking from for analysis, and the results are expected next week.

A police spokesman told the Daily Mirror: “The woman told us the little girl bore a striking resemblance to Madeleine and was behaving nervously.

“She said she got up to call us as soon as she saw the girl but when she returned to her table all three of them got into a car and left.

“She was 100% sure it was Madeleine and is a trusted witness. She works with children and noticed something unusual, that is why we are taking it seriously.”

He added: “Bearing in mind she had been reported in Belgium once already, we have issued a nationwide alert and informed border police.”

The witness told police the woman spoke English and the man was Dutch.

Belgian police are also carrying out checks on the number plate from the couple’s car, a Volvo station wagon.

Gerry and Kate McCann, the four-year-olds parents are visiting Huelva, the capital of Andalucia in Spain where they will put up posters of the girl across the city and pray for her safe return.

(JM/SP)

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